Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH/RIYADH — India will issue at least 27,000 more Emergency Certificates to enable its citizens to leave Saudi Arabia for home after a new labor policy came into force in the Kingdom. The development comes as India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid arrived in Jeddah to hold talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud Al-Faisal and other authorities. The Indian Embassy has released a second list of verification and delivery process of Emergency Certificates (ECs) for all Indian nationals who have applied at the embassy and at other collection centers. “The schedule currently announced is for the second batch of delivery up to 24,000 EC applications received in Riyadh and above 3,700 EC applications received in the Eastern Province,” the embassy said in a statement. “The schedule for verification and delivery of subsequent batches of applications will be announced shortly,” it said. In the first batch, 15,000 EC applications were received at collection centers across Saudi Arabia. There has been a rush for the emergency travel documents with about 60,000 applicants looking for one, amid concerns about possible job losses after the new Nitaqat labor law comes into effect. The Nitaqat system makes it mandatory for local companies to hire one Saudi national for every 10 expatriate workers. There has been widespread perception that the new policy will lead to denial of job opportunities for a large number of Indians working there. Over two million Indians are currently working in Saudi Arabia. In his arrival statement, Khurshid said relations between India and Saudi Arabia are bound by several centuries of trade and cultural linkages. “Our relationship has immensely been benefited from the wise leadership of our two countries,” he said. Khurshid hailed the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and said under him the Kingdom has attained considerable growth and prosperity. King Abdullah, the statement said, plays a key role in ensuring peace and stability in the region. Khurshid noted that Saudi Arabia hosts over two million Indians and they continue to be the most preferred community in Saudi Arabia for their hard work, discipline and law-abiding nature.
“My visit is taking place at a time when Indian community in Saudi Arabia is engaged in an effort to utilize the three-month grace period for the expatriates to correct their legal status or to return to their motherland without penal action and with dignity,” the statement said.
